Jan 25 - aftermath

Well, I had wondered why the bike fared so well in it's oh-so-gentle fall yesterday. Well, I've decided that it's because it had something soft to land on ... and that was me. As the morning has worn on, my shoulder and neck have gotten stiffer, not painfully so but enough to understand that there was very little impact on the bike and it just came down and scraped on the ground. Anyway, I'd like to say "lesson learned" but this was not a lesson learned. It was something that I already knew. Why do we have to learn things again ?

It's 8:20; I've heard Sandy up but she's back in bed; the light is on in the den and Meagan is reading; one of David or Kim was up a little while ago and used the bathroom; oh ... Kim and Sandy just came up for air; Meagan is on the computer. David was up when I got up, sitting on the couch and reading something on his laptop. He was probably awakened by the storm. Most of that has gone by now. Now it's noisy in here since Sandy is grinding coffee.

I emailed Nancy Standring to see if she has any of the grandma plant left. She's my last hope, but let's be realistic here -- it's a plant.

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Tempting fate. Should I be tempting fate ? David didn't want to tempt fate and opted not to go for any more Harley rides. I don't think that he was all that crazy about the upright stance anyway. I also think that he was wishing that I had bought the Harley windshield because it's detachable. I, on the other hand, constantly tempt fate. Since I've ben hurt skiing, biking, driving, Harley'ing, working around the house ... there'd be nothing left for me to do if I didn't want to tempt fate !

I did go for a Harley ride yesterday, later in the afternoon. It was windy as heck. I opted to simply ride to the end of the park and back, back to the foot of Flagler and home. It was still rough on the ocean but the winds were from the west and blowing the tops off the breakers.

Sandy, Kim and Meagan went to the dog beach ... and of course Abby went too. I heard that she loved it.

Before that, I got a haircut; before that, I had lunch; before that, we went to the big Harley dealership in Ormond Beach. Before that, I picked up some groceries -- there, my day in reverse.

Sandy didn't come to Ormond Beach. Meagan found a t-shirt; Kim was tempted but didn't buy anything. I spent some time browsing around the shiny parts then David and I went upstairs and looked at the used bikes. Most of them look brand-new. We saw one brand new looking bike that had the same abrasions as mine, upon close inspection. Ha. I guess that I'm not the first person to drop their bike ! Aaron said that his dad tore one shoulder on one bike and then the other shoulder on another bike.

I did find a couple of things in the shiny-parts-department that I might pick up at another visit. The stock drivers pegs are black, small and round, for comfort I might buy a pair like the passenger pegs -- flat, shiny, with rubber inserts for comfort. I might also buy a replacement end for the shift leaver that has rubber inserts and would be easier on the top of my boots shifting up. These are minor, inexpensive upgrades -- eg. the shift end is less than $15. I had bought another battery minder before leaving here in December that I put on the boat batteries. It came to $60 or $70 with shipping. I was thinking of buying another, but the Harley dealership sells the same thing with its branding for less than $40. It probably has a down-sized capacity for the smaller batteries. That makes sense.

This morning I cannot notice anything with my shoulder ... that's a good thing. Perhaps it should have hurt for a few more days to remind me of my stupidity ?

David looked like I did with the first visit to this place -- overwhelmed. He looked the way that I probably look after being in a shopping mall for a few minutes -- "get me outa here". I saw a group of older ladies, perhaps a dozen of them, taking a tour. Ha. It's one of the few places that you can tour without paying an entry fee. The entry fee, of course, is paid by the people buying expensive parts. Would you like a new pair of wheels with free installation ? Why is installation free ? Well, that's because these beautiful wheels, including tires, are priced at $3995. I guess that one of the most amazing things about looking at all the bikes in this place is that no two are alike. I don't think that's true when you get into the stock cruisers, all with their stereos, gauges, panniers etc. On the used floor they all do look different. That's because the owners, like me, had their priorities for where they might spend some additional money for shiny parts, or in some case, black parts to change the look.

So ... we had squid as an appetizer last night, marinated and barbecued. Next up was mahi-mahi, which was quite good, accompanied by rice and stir-fried zucchini, tomatoes and olives. Next up was birthday cake with Sandy's flambe cherries and ice cream. We sang happy birthday to David (Jan 28th), Meagan ( Jan 9th) and Lauren (that day). Lauren, of course, was not here. We did call her and found out that they were going to Swiss Chalet -- her choice -- for dinner. Boy this family is predictable !! It's better than Chuck-e-cheese !!

Before dinner David and Kim were looking at houses on the internet and strategizing. They have lots of decisions to make.

Today is travel day for our guests. From the warmth to the cold, away they go. David is planning on leaving around 9:30 for the Orlando airport, which will give them plenty of time to get rid of the rental car and shuttle to the airport, go through security, get an extra pat-down, etc. I see sandwiches in the fridge -- Kim has packed a lunch. That's good.

So it's going to be quiet here for a few days, just the three of us. Arlene is the next arrival. In the meantime, I'm going to work off all my holiday accumulation on my bike, getting my legs and butt in shape. The first brevet is on Feb 6th, a 300k. Before that I'll do a 200k Permanent, probably later this week. Today's high won't be much over 60F and it will be windy. Oh good, or is that oh drat.

Onward !